Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) on April 28 signed SB 336 and HB 427, extending the Maryland Task Force on Responsible Use of Natural Psychedelic Substances through December 31, 2027. The bills were sponsored by Sen. Brian Feldman (D) and Del. Pam Guzzone (D).
The 17-person panel, overseen by the Maryland Cannabis Administration (MCA), was created when Moore signed two bills in 2024 to study "broad, equitable and affordable access to psychedelic substances." Under the new law, the task force must deliver an updated report to lawmakers by October 31, 2026, and a representative of a historically Black college or university joins the body.
The task force's prior final report recommended a "multi-pathway framework for safe, broad, and equitable access to natural psychedelic substances, with an initial focus on psilocybin." Its three-phase plan calls for: an advisory board setting safety parameters, practice guidelines, licensing protections, facilitator training, and "immediate restorative justice measures"; supervised medical and adult-use consumption facilities, deprioritization of criminal penalties, and personal cultivation for "permitted individuals"; and finally—pending "demonstrated safety outcomes and provider confidence"—a commercial sales program for adults "who maintain an active license to use natural psychedelic substances," alongside an assessment of whether to expand to additional substances.
The panel currently focuses on psilocybin, mescaline, and DMT. It said it did not support "delaying state action pending future federal [Food and Drug Administration] approval," and suggested the framework could serve as a model other states could "adapt to their own circumstances and values."
A House version of the bill originally required the task force to study statewide online sales with home delivery and testing and labeling requirements for psychedelic products; that language was removed before passage.
Moore also signed legislation protecting firefighters and rescue workers from penalties for lawful off-duty medical marijuana use and a bill shielding veterinarians who recommend medical cannabis for animals. A separate measure to protect the gun rights of medical marijuana patients failed to pass this session.
